Melbourne 1956

The Melbourne 1956 Games was the first time Australia hosted the Olympics. In many ways, it was the Games that took the Olympics to the world. It was the first Games held outside of Europe or the United States, the first Games held in the southern hemisphere, the first Games where live television broadcasts captured the public’s imagination, and the first Games in which all the athletes walked together as one in the Closing Ceremony. This change to procedure had been suggested to organisers by an Australian schoolboy, John Ian Wing, and remains a much-loved tradition of togetherness and friendship.

Key Facts

Opening date:

22 November 1956

Closing date:

8 December 1956

Host nation:

Australia (AUS)

Cauldron lit by:

Ron Clarke (ATH)

Number of nations:

72

Number of athletes:

3,314 (2,938 men, 376 women)

Number of sports:

17

Number of events:

145

Medal Tally

Nations

1

USSR

37

29

32

2

United States of America

32

25

17

3

Australia

13

8

14

4

Hungary

9

10

7

5

Italy

8

8

9

Note: Medal tally as at end of Games

The Melbourne Olympics also heralded the arrival of Australia as a real sporting force at the Olympics, with stars such as swimmers Dawn Fraser and Murray Rose and sprinters Betty Cuthbert and Shirley Strickland helping Australia rise to third on the medal table.

Australia at these Games

Australia’s team at the 1956 Olympics was a record-breaking crew that remains one of the greatest collections of athletic talent ever to compete under the Australian flag. With 325 athletes participating, including 46 women, the team was almost equal to the combined total of athletes Australia had sent to the previous 12 Olympics. Hence, it was remarkable for both quality and quantity, and its third place on the overall medal table with 35 medals (13 gold, 8 silver, 14 bronze), remains the highest place ever achieved by an Australian team.

Rower Merv Wood, competing at his fourth Olympics, was again chosen to carry the Australian flag in the Opening Ceremony. He remains the only person ever to twice receive this honour. Wood added a bronze medal to his Olympic collection in the double sculls with Murray Riley.

Australia’s Games got off to a flying start on the track thanks to the brilliant performances by our female sprinters (unlike in recent Olympics, athletics was held before swimming in 1956). ‘Golden Girl’ Betty Cuthbert emerged as the star of Melbourne, winning the 100m and 200m sprint double, and anchoring the 4x100m relay team as it won the gold medal. Cuthbert was the only Australian woman to win three gold medals at a Games until swimmer Shane Gould in 1972. Shirley Strickland won two gold medals at her final Games in the 80m hurdles and the 4x100m relay, ending her career as one of Australia’s greatest Olympic medallists with three gold, one silver and three bronze medals. Among other track medallists were John Landy in the men’s 1500m (bronze) and Hec Hogan in the men’s 100m (bronze). For Landy, one of the most storied names in Australian athletics, it would be his only Olympic medal.

But it was in the pool that Australia really excelled. Melbourne saw the Olympic debut of two of the Games’ true legends, Dawn Fraser and Murray Rose. Fraser won gold medals in the 100m freestyle and 4x100m freestyle and a silver in the 400m freestyle, while Rose achieved a golden treble with victories in the 400m freestyle, 1500m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle. Adding to the Aussie aura of excellence was dual gold medallist Lorraine Crapp, winner of the 400m freestyle and the 4x100m freestyle relay; David Theile, the champion of the 100m backstroke; and 100m freestyle winner Jon Henricks.

In cycling, Ian Browne and Anthony Marchant won the 2000m tandem, an event that Australia also won at the 1952 Olympics. Australia enjoyed its first medal successes in sailing (yachting) and canoe/kayak. In sailing, Rolly Tasker and John Scott won a silver medal in the 12 square metre class and Doug Buxton, Dev Mytton and Alex ‘Jock’ Sturrock combined for a bronze medal in the 5.5m class. Kayakers Dennis Green and Wally Brown won a bronze in the exhausting K2 10,000m. Green would later become the first Australian to compete at five Olympics.

The home Games allowed Australia to make its Olympic debut in a number of sports, including team sports such as basketball and football. It would be 40 years before Australia again had such a large contingent of athletes competing at a Games.

History

The Melbourne 1956 Games was the first time Australia hosted the Olympics. In many ways, it was the Games that took the Olympics to the world. It was the first Games held outside of Europe or the United States, the first Games held in the southern hemisphere, the first Games where live television broadcasts captured the public’s imagination, and the first Games in which all the athletes walked together as one in the Closing Ceremony. This change to procedure had been suggested to organisers by an Australian schoolboy, John Ian Wing, and remains a much-loved tradition of togetherness and friendship.

The Melbourne Olympics also heralded the arrival of Australia as a real sporting force at the Olympics, with stars such as swimmers Dawn Fraser and Murray Rose and sprinters Betty Cuthbert and Shirley Strickland helping Australia rise to third on the medal table.

Only the Soviet Union (37 gold) and the United States (32 gold) beat Australia’s 13 gold medals. Notably, Melbourne was the first time the Soviet Union led the medal table. The stars of the Soviet team included distance runner Vladimir Kuts, who won the 5000m and 10,000m double. Watching Kuts in the stands was a young Australian named Herb Elliott, who was so inspired by the record-breaking runs he became determined to one day make his own name on the track. Another young Australian runner later to emerge as an idol, Ron Clarke, had the honour of lighting the Olympic flame.

Other heroes to emerge in Melbourne included Hungarian Laszlo Papp, who became the first man to win three successive boxing gold medals. Hungary also won its second successive water polo gold medal, but not before a bitter and bloody match with the Soviet Union, which had invaded Hungary only weeks earlier. With far more grace, Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina made her Olympic debut. She won three gold and two silver medals, including the all-around event. Latynina would retire after the 1964 Games with a record total of gold medals and overall medals. Another record breaker was American diver Patricia McCormick, who repeated her double gold medal performance from 1952 by winning both the springboard and platform events.

In total, 67 nations participated in Melbourne’s Games.

Games Trivia

Emblem

The Melbourne 1956 emblem comprises of a drawing of Australia with a torch and the Olympic rings. There are laurel branches on each side.

International hosting

The 1956 Olympics remains the only Games in which a sport was held in a country other than the host nation. Because of Australia’s quarantine laws, the equestrian events were held in Stockholm, Sweden, in June, five months before the Opening Ceremony in Melbourne.

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